African Music

African Music

varies by region and by tribe, yet they have some common characteristics

common characteristics of african music

1. part of everyday activities - everyone joins in clapping, singing, and dancing to the music

2. holds communities together and sometimes even defines a person’s place in society

3. used for recreation and also to mark important life events like marriage, childbirth, battles, and coming of age

4. not normally written down but passed on through oral tradition

5. relies heavily on percussion instruments, rhythm, repetition, and call-response pattern

musical variation

north

characteristics and musical variation in every african community

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• arabic influences

• non-traditional (foreign)

musical variation

west

characteristics and musical variation in every african community

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• rich and diverse

• performed by ensembles rather than solo singers

• complex rhythm

musical variation

east

characteristics and musical variation in every african community

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• important in dance and in everyday life

• clapping accompanies music and dancing

musical variation

central

characteristics and musical variation in every african community

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• traditional pygmy music

• mostly vocal

• singing is done in groups

musical variation

south

characteristics and musical variation in every african community

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• music contains few words and short syllables

• less complex and uses the least percussion

musical instrument

north

musical instruments in each african community

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• zither

• lute

• ratbab - a two stringed instrument that uses a bow

musical instrument

west

musical instruments in each african community

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• kora - a harp with 21 strings; its sound resembles a hard or a blues guitar

• djembe - a loud type of goblet hand drum used for solos

musical instrument

east

musical instruments in each african community

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• drum ensembles of various sizes

musical instrument

central

musical instruments in each african community

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• sanza - a type of thumb piano

• drums

• stick zither

musical instrument

south

musical instruments in each african community

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• anzad - one-stringed fidle

• xylophones

elements of african music

• rhythm

• melody

• harmony

• form

• texture

rhythm

polyrhythms (different meters or metrical starting points going on at once)

melody

organized within a scale of four, five, six, or seven notes

use small melodic intervals (lots of 2nds and 3rds)

has recurring patterns and descending phrases

harmony

a cappella (unaccompanied)

form

strophic (split up into verses)

follows call-and-response form, wherein the leader sings a line (the call) and is answered by a chorus (the response)

texture

homophonic (in block chords)

traditional african music

1. apala

2. axe

3. jit

4. jive

5. juju

6. kwassa kwassa

7. marabi

8. reggae

9. salsa

10. samba

11. soca

12. were

13. zouk

apala

musical genre from nigeria that is used to wake up worshippers after the ramadan.

instruments include the sekere (rattle), agidigbo (thumb piano), agogo (bell), and the talking drums

axe

musical genre the combines the afro-carribean style of marcha, reggae, and calypso

originated in salvador, bahia, and brazil

jit

a fast and hard dance music that is placed on the drums while being accompanied by guitar

its origin can be traced back to zimbabwe

jive

variation of a jitterbug that is lively in form

juju

a popular style that is based on traditional Yoruba rhythms.

Originated in Nigeria

kwassa kwassa

dance style that mainly involves the use and movement of one’s backside or bottom.

Originated in Zaire.

marabi

extended dance in vamping patterns and repeated harmony

reggae

sound with guitar and bass domincance

its origin can be traced back to jamaica

salsa

music of afro-cuban origin

samba

music that originated in brazil

soca

music that combines calpyso music and soul

were

muslim music played as a wakeup call for early breakfast and prayers during ramadan

zouk

a fast carnival type of music

vocal forms of african music

1. maracatu

2. blues

3. spiritual

4. soul

maracatu

origin can be traced back to the coronation of the black king ceremony, this processional ceremony combined music, theater, and dance which is the direct ancestor of today’s modern maracatu

rhythm is called “baque” or “toque”, determined by the toada - the singing part of maracatu, in which a leader begins the song and is answered by a chorus

blues

the african-american communities living in the deep south of the united states created the genre and musical form popularly known today as blues

slaves used to sing while working in the cotton and vegetable field

the term “blue devils” may have been the origin of blues, it meant melancholy and sadness or blue indigo

the lyrics often consisted of a single line which is repeated four times , call-and-response is the style in which blues is presented

uses melisma (a passage of multiple notes sung to one syllable of a text, as in gregorian chant) and notal intonation

harmony is characterized by the primary emphasis on the first, fourth, and fifth chords of a combination. The 12-bar and 48-bar repetitive pattern serves as the basis for its rhythm

produces the AAB pattern of its lyrical structure

blue devils

origin of blues

meant melancholy or sadness or blue indigo

blue indigo

worn by many west african cultures in death and mourning ceremonies where all the mourner's garments would have been dyed blue to indicate suffering

call-and-response

style of which blues is presented

spiritual

refers to a song in religious form that originated in the camp meetings of the great awakening of the early 19th century

as passionate as the blues, but does not put much concern on the performer

focus is on the general loneliness of mankind

lyrics were more figurative

characterized by syncopation, polyrhythmic structure, and the pentatonic scale of five whole tones

deeply emotional song, and it has words that are most often related to biblical passages, but the predominant effect is of patient, profound melancholy

directly related to the sorrow songs that were the material source of the blues, while a number of more joyous spirituals influenced the content of gospel songs

soul

music genre that combines rhythm and blues, gospel music, and jazz that originated in the united states

the genre occasionally uses improvisations, twirls, and auxiliary sounds

has a catchy rhythm stressed through handclapping and extemporaneous body movements

another characteristic of soul music is the use of tense vocal sounds through call-and-response between the soloist and the chorus

african musical instruments

usually made from the materials found in nature like wood, gourds, turtle shells, and animal horns, or skin

other materials might be recycled from man-made objects, like scrap metal from old cars or oil drums

1. chordophones

   kora

   adungu

   uhadi

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2. aerophones

   nyanga

   kudu horn

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3. idiophones

   balafon

   talking drums

   rasps

   slit

   agogo

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4. membranophones

   djembe

   kalimba (thumb piano)

   shekere

kora

a long necked harp lute with twenty-one leather or nylon strings

adungu

a kind of african hard and considered as the most striking string instrument because of its often exceptionally beautiful form and decoration

ubadi

a single-stringed instrument traditionally made from wood and dried gourd

nyanga

african pan pipes

kudu horn

made from the horn of kudu antelope and is occasionally used in jewish ceremonies similar to a shofar

balafon

a wooden xylophone or percussion idiophone which plays melodic tunes and usually has between 16 to 27 keys

talking drums

drums whose pitch can be regulated depending upon how the player strikes the head of the drum and changes its tension

these pitches mirror a person’s voice, and thus, the drums are called “talking drums”

rasps

a hand percussion instrument whose sound is produced by scraping the instrument

slit

a drum made from a hallowed piece of wood in which a narrow grove serves as a sound opening

agogo

a conical bell-shaped instrument, usually in two’s played by hitting the bells

djembe

a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands

kalimba (thumb piano)

a percussion instrument

it is a sound box with metal keys attached to the top to give the different notes

shekere

a gourd shaker with gourd pieces